I was sent a copy of this novel by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
Rating: 4.5/5
I... literally don't know how to describe this book.
Do you enjoy:
Sweeping descriptions of nature?
A unique magic system?
Lots of gay stuff?
Nuanced representation?
A complex and relatable narrator?
Then this is the book for you.
While this book suffered slightly from too little exposition in the very beginning, it more than made up for it with an intricate and political plot, rife with interpersonal confusion and chaos. I loved the writing style and the characters, and I couldn't put it down for the last 200 pages or so. Preorder it. Read it. Lick it. It's great.

So this was a super refreshing read right from the very beginning. You know how lots and lots of fantasy books have some kind of dire warning (“Do Not Open The Forbidden Door”/ “Beware the Stone Circle at Solstice”/“Thou Shalt Not Use Anything Other than Genuine Maple Syrup on Pancakes”) and, well, it’s obvious from the very beginning that whatever was warned against is exactly what’s going to happen at some point? Ever get towards the end of a book and go, “Hmm, not many pages left, and the Solstice is coming up, and the climactic confrontation is going to happen at the Stone Circle, and they’re serving brunch sponsored by Aunt Jemima®. Gee, I wonder what’s going to happen?” All of you know what I’m talking about. Well, *The Obsidian Tower* opens with a poem, passed down through the protagonist's (Ryx) family for thousands of years, all about how nothing must ever unseal the mysterious obsidian door in the mysterious obsidian tower in the middle of their ancient and mysterious family castle.

Said door gets opened in the first 10 pages or so.

Like I said, that was a refreshing surprise. We get a book dealing with the *consequences* of violating the dire warning, rather than a build up to it that gets pretty obvious before the end.

And there’s another, similar angle on this kind of refreshing twist. Ryx comes from a family of life-magic wielders, except her magic got damaged by a childhood illness. Instead of being able to manipulate and use living things, she uncontrollably sucks the life out of them. Think Rogue from X-Men, but on plants and animals as well as people, gloves don’t help, and it’s more or less instantaneous. They’ve actually got one side of every corridor in the castle marked with warnings and reserved for Ryx’s use, all so she doesn’t bump into one of the servants by accident and kill them (again). But wait! It’s mentioned that a rival nation has magic that would bind her power, letting her, you know, get a hug once in a while, or walk on a lawn without leaving a trail of dead and withered grass. Except accepting that binding would mean putting herself under the authority of that rival nation, and that’s politically unacceptable.

And, once again, pretty early in the book Ryx says “F*** this, I’m done” and accepts the binding. Once again we get a book dealing with *consequences* rather than obvious foreshadowing.

Beyond all that, this was a delightful read. Ryx is a wonderfully compelling character to spend time with. She’s befriended by a group dedicated to investigating and preventing magical accidents, and they’re a wonderful bunch of companions and compelling in their own right. The gradual escalation of what, exactly, they’ve got to deal with now that the Door has been opened is handled beautifully, along with various bits of international intrigue going on at the same time. It’s all very well done. And the ending is not a cliffhanger (cliffhangers suck), but at the same time gives a very nice hook so I’m really looking forward to the sequel.

Last point I want to mention: for reasons I can’t quite articulate, this book reminded me quite a lot of Leigh Bardugo’s stuff. So it’s got that going for it too.

A fun, action packed read that manages to balance mythology and magic while showing that sometimes the greatest strength lies between the bonds you share with friends.

“The Obsidian Tower” follows Ryx as she manages her life under her grandmothers eye while limiting her contact with those who may make the fatal mistake of getting too close as her magic is flawed and can kill with a single touch. When peace talks bring other political alliances to the castle she finds that some are looking too close at the infamous tower her family protects and it’s not long before the gates are opened and something sinister is let loose in the kingdom.

This isn’t a new plot we have a girl who is held back by her family but remains watchful so she manages to hold her own when the position of power is thrown at her following a series events that kicks off the main conflict and with a band of skilled misfits and a strong jawed hero with a sad back story our cast is complete and away we go!

That being said I did like Ryx because she was given this flawed power but she wasn’t one to lose her voice and I know said power isn’t exactly the best but in a stressful time like this it was an odd choice to have her try to do away with it so quickly. I feel like a lot of the scenes I did enjoy were between Ryx and her grandmother and I can’t go into a lot of it because of spoilers but their back and forth was both comical and threatening at the same time and I really look forward to seeing these two meet up again in the future.

The weakest for me was the Shrike Lord who was this huge threat that was name dropped constantly through the first two thirds and when we finally met him he was a giant dud so I feel like a lot of time was wasted on the misdirect when the actual antagonists were very well done the entire plan to set up one of the beings released by playing on its namesake was brilliant and I was sad to see it only last a few pages.

This isn’t a bad read but it does suffer from some weak moments that make the read drag on in sections but once you get past that you can enjoy the beats that do work and I’m hopeful that the next book in the series will work on some of the kinks to fully realize it’s potential.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This novel was a great first start to a new epic fantasy series. It had everything I like in my fantasy books. The character's perspective was really enjoyable to read. The storyline was well developed and written in a way that is not hard to understand at all. You will be mesmerized by this story.

Caruso’s latest fantasy work, “The Obsidian Tower,” is the first book in her new series, entitled Rooks and Ruin. The second book in the series, “Quicksilver Court,” is already planned for a 2021 release. Set in a part of the same universe as Caruso’s award-winning Sword and Fire trilogy, this story is centered in the northlands where small kingdoms are ruled by witch-lords and witch-ladies, all genetically gifted with magical powers and, of course, all at each other’s throats. Although not quite the grim, dark, brutal fantasy worlds I typically enjoy, Caruso’s writing is superb and the quick-moving plot will draw you in.

It’s become quite popular of late to populate fantasy stories with female leads and The Obsidian Tower falls into this category. The opening narrative is great with Ryx explaining how she was born into a royal family of witches and warlocks, but she was the black sheep of the family as her magic world backwards. Instead of shooting Forth power, Ryx is like the queen of death as she kills every living thing she touches. Socially, she is an outcast who cannot touch another, not even in passing, and is feared by all. Throughout the story, her confidence grows as she learns to harness her power.

Much of the story revolves around courtly intrigue as the different kingdoms and the empire vie for power. The black tower hidden in Gloaningard in Ryx’ Morgrain is at issue throughout the story as the powers that be argue over it, perhaps not fearing it enough.

A story then bound to have wide appeal even to young adult audiences, but filled with magic, palace intrigue, and demons from the darkest corner of hell. Quite a compelling read.